I haven’t seen any documents discussing such limitations, with double racks it should be able to carry in theory up to 8x Sidewinders and 2x Sparrows in some cases
What is the source? This seems to predate the introduction of newer pylons on the F-18A that allowed dual racks.
I don’t remember the source, all I remember is a friend showing this to me ages ago when I mentioned excitement over the F/A-18A carrying 10x Sidewinders (not even joking).
Might’ve been an early F/A-18A manual
I suppose it depends on how gaijin wants to add it then, but as y’all said… no real sense in adding the earliest models because they’d fill no gap or purpose.
I personally just want an early A-model, since that’s what seems like the most interesting one to me.
To I guess revise my earlier idea: scratch 9Ms on it. Just keep it with 6x 9Ls and 4x 7Ms tops, in-between F-14B and F-14D, somewhere around 12.3. Limit its air-to-ground ordnance as well.
F/A-18C with the full compliment of AMRAAM, air-to-surface weapons, etc could be at like 13.0-13.3
Wasn’t putting AAM on inboard pylon was restricted until 90s and F/A-18C?
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Y’all say this but I am going off of weapons stores pics from google… sources would be appreciated (I know I didn’t provide any)…
In any case, depends on which variant Gaijin adds. Perhaps there is more discussion to be had once we see which variant(s) are coming.
As an example though, RAAF has ASRAAM on their F-18A.
I don’t think that explicitly prohibits the use of the missile though, no?
I dunno.
NAVEDTRA 10345-E
NAVEDTRA 12308
According to the 1985 and 1990 Aviation Ordnanceman 3&2 training manuals, the LAU-115/A launcher can only be used on outboard wing pylons. The latter also indirectly confirms that the F/A-18C/D was not exempt from this restriction.
The system data from the Conduct of the Persial Gulf War: Final Report to Congress, Volume 3 mentions the Hornet’s inboard wing stations are only for fuel tanks or air-to-ground weapons.
Also in the F-18 Hornet in detail & scale Part 1: Developmental & Early Production Aircraft by Don Linn, a technical data shows that the AIM-7 is only mounted on stations 2/4/6/8. The source of this is unknown, but the format suggests it was taken from the preliminary Standard Aircraft Characteristics.
The bottom line is that the legacy Hornets were not able to carry air-to-air weapons on the inner wing pylons until at least 1991. The reason for this limitation is not known. However this is definitely not a wiring issue, so it’s more likely a software limitation or safety measure.
NAVEDTRA 14313
The restriction for AIM-7 was confirmed to have been removed from the 2001 Aviation Ordnanceman training manual, so it is likely that it disappeared at some point in the 1990s. The earliest would be around 1993, when the Hornets were authorized to operate AMRAAM.
WarbirdTech Series Volume 31: Boeing F/A-18 Hornet by Brad Elward
However the inboard station AIM-9 is still not a thing.
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I think it’s safety measure because of risk of engine intake sucking rocket motor exhaust causing engine problems.
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That makes sense. But on the other hand, there were no restrictions on air-to-ground missiles, so there may have been other reasons as well.
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Sure, the Hornet leads at lower speeds, from about 300-350 knots the F-15 leads, but depending on pilots, a good F-15 pilot can beat the Hornet at low speeds and vice versa.
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How an F-15 pilot can beat a Hornet at slow speeds.
The F-15 has good nose authority, has good alpha and is stable, predictable . But the Hornet is far superior here. So how can an F-15 pilot beat a Hornet pilot at slow speeds? The difference is in the thrust of the engines An example is that if both pilots let themselves withdraw to lower speeds, the F-15 can accelerate faster in maneuvers and use the energy gained in the vertical, the F-15 loves the vertical. Thus the Hornet is beaten by higher thrust and better climb rate. But if an F-15 pilot can’t do that, he’ll be beaten very quickly.
Found more information about the stores management page in the aviation ordnanceman manual, and did a quick reconstruction of what it would look like in the game.
Since some features are currently omitted for the sake of gameplay, so I’ve merged some page-specific elements with others to provide as much information as possible.
Also, for weapon type acronyms, I’ve excluded those known from other flight sims but not mentioned in official documents.
Clean
1. Gun ammo count
2. Gun air-to-ground mode option:
- CCIP
- MAN (manual)
3. Loaded ammunition type:
- M50 (M53 API and M56 HEI)
- PGU (PGU-28/B SAPHEI)
4. Gun fire rate option:
- HI (6000 rpm)
- LO (4000 rpm)
Air-to-air missile selected
1. Air-to-air missile symbol
2. Loaded missile type:
- 9L (AIM-9L)
- 9M (AIM-9M)
- 7M (AIM-7M)
- 7H (AIM-7MH)
- 7P (AIM-7P)
3. Number of air-to-air missiles: dual missile pylons only
4. Selected air-to-air missile station:
- L (left)
- R (right)
5. Air-to-air missile status:
- SEL (selected)
6. Loaded AIM-7 missile type
Air-to-ground missile selected
1. Loaded air-to-ground missiles: boxed and marked RDY when selected
2. Loaded air-to-ground missile type:
- HPD (AGM-84D)
- HARM (AGM-88)
3. Number of air-to-ground missiles
4. Air-to-ground missile status: boxed when selected
Bombs selected
1. Loaded bombs: boxed and marked RDY when selected
2. Loaded bomb type:
- 82B (Mk 82)
- 82X (Mk 82 Snakeye)
- 83B (Mk 83)
- 83X (Mk 83 AIR)
3. Number of bombs
4. Bomb status: boxed when selected
5. Mechanical fuzing options:
- NOSE
- TAIL
- N/T (nose and tail)
- LDLY (long delay)
6. Electric fuzing options:
- OFF
- VT (proximity)
- INST (instantaneous)
- DLY 1 (delay 1)
- DLY 2 (delay 2)
7. Drag options:
- FF (free fall)
- RET (retarded)
8. Quantity of selected weapon
9. Ripple quantity of selected weapon
Sources:
NAVEDTRA 12308 (1990)
NAVEDTRA 14313 (2001)
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Legacy Hornet is long overdue. US get’s many variants, Sweden can get the Finnish one.
UK can get either CF-18 or an Aussie one, Germany can get a Swiss one, and both need something before the Eurofighter comes
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F/A-18 this update
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